How Notre Dame ended Mizzou basketball’s undefeated start to 2025-26 season
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Cole Certa hit a 3 with 17 seconds left; Notre Dame sealed a 76-71 victory.
- Mark Mitchell (26) and Jacob Crews (22) combined for 48 of Mizzou’s 71 points.
- Mizzou converted 6-for-21 from 3-point range; Crews made 5 of 10 attempts.
A pair of 20-point scorers kept Mizzou basketball close in South Bend, Indiana, but Notre Dame’s Cole Certa drained a shot from deep with 17 seconds left, and the Tigers were suddenly dealt their first loss of the season.
Final score: Notre Dame 76, Missouri 71.
The Tigers certainly would have been blown out if it hadn’t been for Mark Mitchell (26 points) and Jacob Crews (22), who combined for 48 of the team’s 71 points. Of the other Tigers who saw the floor, none scored more than six points.
“I thought Jacob and Mark did a tremendous job,” coach Dennis Gates told reporters postgame. “I do believe we have other guys who can stretch the floor that obviously didn’t play, from Jayden Stone to Trent Pierce (injured), but at the end of the day, we have what we have.”
Still, the Tigers (8-1) fought hard in South Bend in a game that featured eight lead changes. And the Tigers actually led for close to 24 game minutes. But Notre Dame (6-3) regained the edge late.
Mizzou tied the score with under a minute left after Crews had a successful trip to the free-throw line, but Certa’s 3 and additional free throws from the Fighting Irish with the clock winding down put the game away.
Most notably, there was an absence of a deep-scoring threat for Mizzou, which went 6-for-21 (28.6%) from 3. And almost all of that production came from one player.
Crews did what he does best off the bench, making five 3s on 10 attempts. The Tigers hadn’t even made a 3-point shot until Crews entered the game, with Mizzou going 0-for-7 until his first 3 the 11:24 mark in the first half.
Outside of Crews, the Tigers shot 1-for-11 from 3. Mitchell provided the lone 3-point make with 4:05 left in the second half. It was the KC product’s first made 3 this season.
In scoring 26 points, Mitchell went 8-for-17 from the field. He was the most active Tiger at the line and went 9-for-11 on free throws.
Overall, the Tigers went 17-for-25 from the line. In a close game, they certainly could’ve used a few more points there.
“There is no doubt in my mind we’ve got to get to that free-throw line and knock down those shots,” Gates said. “The first half, that kicked us in the rear.”
Gates also was critical of the team’s 21 3-point attempts, hoping for more activity inside. The Tigers scored 34 points in the paint.
“I thought we settled for too many 3s, and that’s how the game got away from us,” Gates said. “I’ll live with Jacob Crews shooting 3s, but it relates to being able to knock down free throws and knock down shots. We didn’t get to the paint like I thought we should have.”
The Tigers went into halftime with a 40-33 lead as both Mitchell and Crews had already eclipsed double digits in scoring.
Though he finished with just six points and fouled out, Anthony Robinson played a critical role in giving Mizzou the early lead. Robinson contributed five steals, four in the first half.
“It’s not about points, it’s about impact,” Gates said of Robinson.
The first half also featured some late drama, as Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry was issued a technical that gave Crews opportunities at the line. Shrewsberry was seemingly arguing with someone as the Fighting Irish left the court.
Crews was on the receiving end of his own technical foul in the second half. He was given the technical for shooting the ball after the whistle, which had blown for a foul on Robinson.
“That’s unacceptable,” Gates said of the Crews foul.
Notre Dame’s Markus Burton, currently averaging 20.1 points per game after leading the ACC with 23.5 ppg in league play last season, put up 18 points. Certa followed closely with 14, also going 4-for-7 from 3.
The Fighting Irish, as a team, went 11-for-33 (33.3%) from 3.
“Burton’s a great player,” Gates said. “Obviously a kid that averages 20 points per game. I thought we did a great job at making him a facilitator (10 assists). I think our length, when it comes down to getting to the basket, it made him settle for some pull-ups, and those are some tough precision shots. He was able to knock some down, but also miss some.”
This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 11:01 PM.
